Steeton were involved in the only match played in the Aire-Wharfe League at the weekend but found themselves even further adrift at the bottom of DIVISION ONE.

While the sides above them picked up a point from their cancelled games, Steeton drew a blank, going down to a four-wicket defeat at Kirkstall.

Gary Boulton produced a fine all-round performance, scoring an unbeaten 46 as Steeton reached 147 for five off their 25 overs.

He then also picked up four wickets but it was not enough to stop the defending champions, who reaped the benefit of a heavy investment in pitch drainage and some good old-fashioned mopping up.

Steeton are six points short of the safety zone at the halfway stage, which sees an unusual looking table with Bilton and Follifoot - regular contenders for the title - joining them and Green Lane in the bottom four.

The race for promotion from DIVISION TWO is very open. Guiseley lead by eight points but there is only a point between the next four - and sixth-placed Tong Park are only two points further back.

Harden have proved to be the surprise package. Newly promoted, they started the season with the aim of consolidating their position but now sense going up again is a possibility.

Secretary Andrew Bailey said: "We've probably exceeded some of our expectations but having seen what we've seen, there doesn't appear to be any side that is so dominant we need to fear them. Even though Guiseley beat us, they didn't look that much better than us."

Bailey feels last season's promotion race should give Harden an advantage.

"It was a close battle all the way, with five clubs in with a chance of promotion on the final day," he said.

"You couldn't afford any slip-ups and I think having been through that intensity will stand us in good stead."

Harden have found a good all-rounder in Australian Matthew King and always have the chance of bowling rivals out, with their opening attack of Phil Leng and Chris Spivey in particularly good form.

"But the important thing is we are getting contributions throughout the team and have good depth to our squad," said Bailey.

Rawdon are probably favour-ites to take one of the top two spots, although they had a blip in form recently that allowed the rest to catch up.

They got back on track with wins over Calverley and Upper Wharfedale to lift them back into second place and secretary John Statham says they are confident of pushing on.

"We have a good bowling line-up and, in Jamie Pickering and Mark McEneaney, strong top-order batting but in a couple of games, especially against Guiseley, our batting was poor," said Statham.

"We have the kind of batsmen who like to attack and the damp conditions haven't made that easy, so we are hoping the sun starts to shine and we can perform at our best.

"We've also lost our captain Stuart Smith with a cracked thumb but we've picked up again recently and feel confident we can mount a sustained challenge.

"A few weeks ago, some people were suggesting that our matches against Guiseley could decide the title. We're hoping that when we meet them again in August that might again be on the cards."

In DIVISION THREE, Olicanian are benefiting from having kept most of their squad together after relegation and are now four points clear at the top.

They are being chased hard by Addingham and Menston, both markedly improved from last season, and pre-season favourites Colton cannot be dismissed, although they have gone off the boil in recent weeks.